Acting Commander
by Laura Schiller
Summary: It is not self-evident that Elder should lead, not after the events at the end of "Shades of Earth". Can he and Amy come to an agreement about the future of their colony?


Acting Commander

By Laura Schiller

Based on: Across The Universe Trilogy

Copyright: Beth Revis

Elder noticed it the moment he and Amy arrived back at the colony. Leaning on a stick, with one arm across her shoulders, he knew he didn't make the most imposing figure, but still – he was surprised by the way people's eyes flicked to Amy first, as if asking _her _what to do. Even some of the shipborns did that, with an apologetic look at Elder; they were glad to see him, but Amy was clearly the one in control of the situation.

"_Elder!"_ Bartie came barrelling out of one of the stone houses, wide-eyed, stopping short with his arms held out. "Where the frex did you come from? We thought you were dead!"

"So did I," Elder replied, smiling at his old friend's obvious shock. Then he hissed in pain as Bartie punched his broken arm.

"Shite! Sorry. I just – don't ever do something like that again, okay? You played enough games with your life the last time I saw you to last for gens!"

Elder couldn't help but laugh. The expression "playing games" might have offended him at another time, but Bartie's relief was too deep for anyone to be offended by his unfiltered remarks.

"You'll have time to talk later," Amy interrupted. "Elder needs treatment. Two broken bones, a few cuts and malnutrition. Tell Doc."

"Right you are," said Bartie, smiling wryly. With a final look at Elder, he strode away, taking the stairs cut into the hillside two at a time on his lanky legs.

Elder stared after him, then back at Amy, with raised eyebrows.

"That was quick."

"He still doesn't like me." Amy shrugged.

"Sure listens to you, though."

"C'mon." She ducked her fiery head and tugged on his arm. "Let's get you to the Hospital."

/

What they called the Hospital was really just another hut, but one already equipped with camp beds, privacy screens, running water, and all the medical equipment Doc had managed to squeeze onto the auto-shuttle and Amy to demand from the hybrids. She waited outside, pacing – almost bursting in at one point when a scream ripped through the window shutters – until one of the Earthborn doctors waved her in.

"It's okay," was the first thing Elder said, lying in bed with two plaster casts and a bandage on his forehead. "They had to re-break my leg bone to set it properly – hurt like shite, I can tell you – but it's going to grow back, good as new."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, knowing he could see the fierceness of her love and relief underneath it. "You make it sound like fixing a car, for God's sake."

He smiled charmingly up at her. "I wouldn't know, but I'm sure the human body is much easier to fix."

"Easy for you to say, sir," a familiar, oddly hoarse voice sounded from opposite her. "It's not _your _job."

Doc stood there, brown eyes blinking rapidly down at Elder, before his hands shot out toward him. Amy tensed, but Doc only smoothed the blanket with quick, nervous fingers, then turned on his heel and walked away to the next patient.

"I'm surprised you let him work on me," Elder said, frowning in sleepy puzzlement. "He did, you know … blow up the Bridge." He mimed an explosion with his fingers. "And try to kill us."

"Did he give you alcohol?"

"Yeah … " He shrugged vaguely. "For the pain. And that's not my question."

"We need him." Amy cast a glare in Doc's direction, which he did not see. "But he's under guard," nodding to an Earthborn soldier standing by the wall. "And even if he weren't, he'd never harm you now. He called you 'sir', didn't you notice? He was almost human there for a second, looking at you. Now that … now that Orion's dead, you're the closest thing he has."

"Hmm." Elder closed his eyes. They allowed a silence to pass, each thinking of Orion's grisly death and the many mistakes that led to it.

"Makes sense," Elder said finally. "You're good at this, Amy. Figuring people out."

"I've had to be," she replied, her jaw set. "I've had to learn to work together with a lot of people I don't necessarily trust."

"You're a leader." In spite or perhaps because of the improvised anaesthetic, his dark eyes focused on her with disarming sincerity. "A better one than I am. Seems only fair that you're the one leading this colony."

"What?" Alarm raised her voice to a squeak that turned several heads. "Don't be ridiculous."

"See?" One corner of his mouth turned up. "Look how easily you're giving orders."

"You're joking."

"I'm totally serious."

"I am _not _taking this colony away from you!" She lowered her voice to a hissing whisper. "Not now that you're here! Don't you realize I've only been leading in _your_ name?"

"So?" He waved his good hand clumsily in the air. "I only led in the name of all the other Eldests."

"Most of these people are only afraid of me," she retorted, looking down at her hands, thinking of the alien strength they now contained. "Because I could punch their lights out if I wanted to. And if someone has to deal with Zane and his people, they figure, better me than them. They only agreed to peace because I told them it's what you would have wanted."

Elder's eyes softened like melting chocolate. "Did they really?"

"Yes." She took his hand between both of hers, light and dark, human and hybrid. "You taught them to be less afraid of new things."

"So did you." He smiled. "You do realize, don't you, that I couldn't have done anything I did without you? I may have been bred as a leader, but I'm at my best when I'm following you."

"You never _followed _me."

"It was your idea to investigate the murders of the frozens." He brushed each of her knuckles with his fingertip as he counted. "Your idea to follow Orion's clues, even though I tried to talk you out of it. Your idea to land, when I was this close to staying trapped on _Godspeed_ in fear of the monsters. You're the one who saved me from Doc. And let's not forget that you somehow convinced my people, who were afraid even of other humans, to sign a peace treaty with the hybrids who almost killed them. _And _helped the hybrids to free their people from Phydus."

Amy's cheeks burned. The way he made it sound, she deserved a statue in her honor at the very least, but this was _not _the way she remembered things.

"_You're _the one who took the _Godspeed_ crew off Phydus," she argued. "And stuck with your decision on principle, even when going back would have been so much easier. And I didn't _make_ you land, we did it together. And then … even though I still can't believe you risked your life like that … " She made a conscious effort not to squeeze his hand too hard. "When you crashed that station … you saved us all. I had nothing to do with that. It was all you."

She swallowed a lump of tears, remembering that blaze of light in the sky she had mistaken for his death.

"I did," said Elder quietly, "And that can't have been easy for you to watch."

"Don't even … "

"I know you, Amy. You've got a short temper, just like mine. It's one of the many things I love about you, even when you're driving me loons. But somehow, after I … after we lost com, even after what Chris did to you, you managed to hold on to that temper of yours and _negotiate_ with him – instead of peppering him with solar bullets like I'm sure you wanted to."

Amy barked a laugh in her new, rougher voice. Elder did know her well.

"But me … I don't know if I could have done that."

"You could have. If you'd been in my place."

"To honor _your_ memory … maybe."

Unspoken love shone in Elder's eyes, a love she'd thought she'd never see again. An answering emotion made her own eyes burn, and it made her understand something she should have realized long ago.

"We _are_ awfully alike, aren't we?" she said, smiling. "And there you kept on talking about how exotic and different I was when we first met."

"Well, you _are_ a bit overwhelming at first sight." He reached up to wind a strand of her red hair around his finger. "But really, the crush I had on you then couldn't have lasted if you weren't so incredibly stubborn. And curious. And not to mention fierce." A mischievous edge to his voice implied that he was thinking of her in bed as well as in battle, and it was one of the best compliments she'd ever had.

"That's why I've never been afraid of _your _moods," she agreed, "And why you could always keep up with me when we went chasing around the ship after clues. We make a great team, you know. Did I ever tell you that?"

"Why, no, you haven't. I'm honored," he said playfully, inclining his head as best he could sitting up against a pillow.

"That's why I think we should share power."

He frowned.

"Think about it. That way we'll balance each other out. If it gets too much for one person, the other will be right there."

Elder nodded in dawning agreement, even gratitude. She knew better than anyone, except perhaps Bartie and Zane, how heavily the responsibiity of leadership had weighed on his young shoulders for sixteen years. It had been heavy enough for her in just one week. It would be a blessing not to carry it alone.

"I'll deal with the shipborns," he continued, "You deal with the Earthborns and the hybrids. I'll be your First Shipper."

She wrinkled her nose. "As long as no one calls me Eldest, or I might just kick someone."

"And we'll _always_ keep each other informed on what's going on."

"No secrets."

"And no lies."

She held out her hand for a pinky promise, and he linked his finger solemnly through hers.

"Hey, c'mon," he said, mock-pouting as she pulled away, "Is that all I get?"

"That _is _the way we make a promise in my family."

"Well, I don't know about you," he raised his good arm to pull her in closer, "But I think a new colony could do with some new traditions … don't you?"

"Good point," she whispered against his mouth.

Though they did not realize it at the time, that kiss was the true beginning of Godspeed Colony. The people watching from the hospital beds smiled to see them, so happy at last after all the suffering they had gone through, and went on to tell their children and grandchildren about the young king of a spaceship and his redheaded queen. It would not be a 'happily ever after' ending by any means … but if their former lives must end, let them end with hope.

"_Will you stay with me?"_

"_Always."_


End file.
